1/144 Republic K-44 Cyclone

[Brian da Basher]

In the years immediately following W.W. II the race to produce jet aircraft was on in earnest. All major U.S. manufacturers were working hard to come out with the most advanced designs possible. The Republic Aircraft Corp. was no exception and had successfully designed their legendary F-84 Thunderjet fighter-bomber which was quickly ordered into production. When it came to the race for multi-engine jets, the Republic firm lagged way behind the likes of Boeing, Convair, Douglas, Lockheed and North American.

Enter a ravishing petite red-headed Republic secretary named Rose and her incredibly well-engineered 38-22-28 figure. At the Aeronautical Engineer of the Year awards dinner in January, 1946, she was voted "Jet-Girl" of the year, and brought the festivities to a rousing conclusion when she popped out of the cake and planted a big kiss on the cheek of Aeronautical Engineer of the Year Leigh Eaton from North American Aircraft. Of course, an invitation to Mr. Eaton's hotel suite followed, and there, with a micro-camera caefully hidden in her 38D " twin jet pods", Rose was able to get photos of the plans for North American's forthcoming XB-45 Tornado which quickly made their way to Republic's headquarters.

The Republic design team made some changes, most notably using a well glazed nose similar to the Boeing B-29, and the Republic YB-44 Cyclone was born. The U.S. Air Force was very interested in the design, and while it did not win their medium bomber competition of 1948, the Cyclone was selected as the new breed of airborne early warning and control aircraft, the forerunner of the modern AWACS. The K-44 Cyclone was never produced in great numbers, but was used  towards the end of the Korean conflict and eventually retired in 1958. The example shown here, no. 9 commanded by Capt. Phil Adelphia of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard's 2nd Early Warning Wing based at Presque Isle AFB in Erie, PA is currently on display at the PA Air Guard museum in York, PA.

1st of 6 pics.

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

Here's my second entry in the U.S.A.F. group build. The base kit for this project is a 1/72 "Rarejets" vacuform F-84 Leigh was generous to send me along with a bunch of other goodies. Of course, buidling it straight out of the box, er folder, would be too simple. Besides, I'd long ago sent the canopy to Phil so I had to find something else to do with this kit...

2nd of 6 pics.

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

I had some 1/144 twin-jet pods from a B-47 in the spares box and I knew I could smashuform a B-29 type nose for this bird, but I wanted something a little different. Then one Saturday, I ordered a pizza and noticed the little three-legged disk they put in the middle of the pie to keep it from being crushed by the lid. I never throw away interesting bits of plastic and once I got a second "pizza protector", I knew I had all I needed to scratch my own AWACS radome! I glued half a 1/72 scale tire to the bottom and found some bits in the spares box to use as legs to attach it to the top of the fuselage. Here's an overhead shot that highlights the radome nicely.

3rd of 6 pics.

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

I added some 1/144 B-47 wingtip tanks from my spares box and then I drilled two holes in the fuselage and inserted some left-over waist blisters from a 1/144 B-29. I painted the entire model in Testor's Acrylics Light Ghost Gray. The black parts were painted using Mars Black Artists acrylics and the cockpit was painted using Polly Scale Italian Green and Model Masters Dark Earth. Speaking of the cockpit, something possessed me to detail it. The pilot and co-pilots' seats are left-overs from that 1/144 B-47, but the "bombardier's" seat was scratched from spare landing gear doors from a 1/72 P-40. The tiny instrument panels were cut from sheet plastic. Here's a picture of the cockpit.

4th of 6 pics.

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

The decals were all from my decal stash and the Pennsylvania tail band was generously provided by our own Group Build Commisar Anthony. Thanks Tovarish! I kept looking at this model and couldn't shake the feeling it reminded me of something I'd seen before. That's when I realized that those twin jet-pods stuck under the wings without pylons made this bird a dead ringer for a B-45 Tornado and the name and backstory were born. Here's a shot of the undersides.

5th of 6 pics.

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

I had a blast participating in this group build and I hope you have as much fun looking at these pictures as I had building it! Here's a shot that shows the envelope from the base kit and one of the pizza tripods that inspired this forerunner of the modern AWACS.

Last of 6 pics.

Brian da Basher

[Rafael]

How fun!!!!    

You sure had a blast building this little gem!!!

I looooove  that awesome cockpit. You certainly have a very great talent for smashforming those things!!!

And the idea for the radome is.....most delicious!!! I wish I had me a big enough pizza for a 1/72 radome!!!

And those twin engines are the bee's knees!!!

I can't shake the image of you laughing your beard off while building this and incorporating idea after funny idea in it!!

Whole lotta thumbs up!!!        

Rafa

[Supertom]

Nice work there, Brian.  Looking at the canopy I thought "Millenium Falcon."

[anthonyp]

Very nice, Brian!  I really like how the canopy turned out.  Like Tom said, a real Millennium Falcon look to it.

 

[Supertom]

So is the pizza protector from Pizza King?        

[Maverick]

Very nice stuff Brian, and it hasn't got two wings or spats!!

Seriously tho, quite a clever concept and very well done build

Regards,

Mav

[Chap]

Beautiful work Brian! I really like the look of this one, very simple, clean lines. I'm thinking this would make a great R/C aircraft.

~Steve